Technically, Battle Beasts ARE included in the old Transformers Universe, I don’t know about the re-booted story. Anyway, here’s Long Giraffe:
I loved Battle Beasts as a kid, but I’ve lost my entire collection so I picked up Giraffe here from TFSource on a whim with a smaller order. I wasn’t sure what to expect, and am pleasantly surprised. The old Battle Beasts features only movable arms, a weapon and a molded in weapon hand, and featured the “element” rubsign which is how you determined who was the stronger fighter in a match (or who had the advantage really). Here’s the old Long Giraffe, not mine, but it’s a good picture:
They were little toys and simple, but just a ton of fun. I was worried when I read that the new versions ditched the rub-sign for a “dice” like game, but it’s actually kinda cool, though a total choking hazard for its intended audience…
The new guys have movable arms and, because the bodies are bigger, movable legs, but they don’t really add much to the posing ability of the figure. Each character comes with two die. They fit in a slot in the chest, pushing the tab sticking out here back, and you push it in to “shoot” the dice for your roll. My Japanese isn’t what it used to be, so I’m not totally sure about the rules, but obviously one die is for regular rolls and the other “+3” is for bonus stuff.
They also come with a sword and shield now. My only issue is that for a tiny fraction of a cent worth of plastic, they could have used an “L” post for the shield so it can be held in a normal position.
You also get a very well produced card which I assume is incorporated into the toys game somehow.
So all in all they’re pretty neat. I may pick up one more so Giraffe here has someone to fight, but I’m not going to collect them on any level beyond that. I still prefer the old versions, but these guys are pretty cool.
On a side note: I’ll be building a new light box this weekend so my pictures aren’t so junky.
iGears Kup and Perceptor weapon upgrade is next, stay tuned!
Pax Cybertron 